The Jesus Cure : The Four Keys to Living a Life of Integrity, Significance and Peace

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Living in Our Age of Moral Decline

To paraphrase Charles Dickens, “We live in the best of times and the worst
of times.” Despite enjoying the greatest standard of living in world history,
with conveniences and comforts that our ancestors couldn’t even contemplate,
we are plagued with ever-increasing levels of distress and the gnawing sense
that our lives are empty, devoid of purpose, meaning, and significance. In short,
we are hurting, trapped in an unending cycle of despair and “dis-ease.”

Just look at the facts. Nearly 25% of U.S. adults suffer from a diagnosable
psychological or mental disorder in any given year. Among the most common of
these are depressive disorders (deep sadness), bipolar disorder (extreme mood
swings), and anxiety disorders (nervousness), as well as so-called major mental
illnesses such as schizophrenia. Of course, this does not include the less severe
so-called “problems in living” such as episodes when we feel jittery or sad.
These emotional states are much more common and debilitating than we would like
to believe.

No doubt we all know someone who always seems to be sad or stressed out and
who never seems to “snap out of it.” Perhaps you are such a person, someone
who always seems to battle with themselves to get up in the morning and face
the growing sense that something is not right: “I shouldn’t be feeling this
way. My life shouldn’t be this difficult and unrewarding.” Believe me, you’re
not alone.

In response to the increasing distress that’s part of all our lives these
days we try to relieve ourselves by seeking counseling or psychotherapy or,
more commonly, by trying to ease our frayed nerves with prescription mood-altering
medications. It is estimated that the number of physician visits during which
a medication for an emotional or psychiatric condition were prescribed increased
from about 11 million in 1988 to 20 million in 1994.1 Most of the medications
prescribed were to treat depression and anxiety disorders, and in any given
year about 10% of all medications prescribed are for psychological problems.
These estimates do not even account for medications such as Valium, Prozac,
and Xanax that can now be obtained with the click of the mouse from the Internet.
It also doesn’t take into account the thousands of people who smoke, drink alcohol,
or take illegal drugs as a way to cope with the distress and difficulties in
their lives. Thus, the number of persons using prescription medications or other
substances to help manage the stresses and chaos of life is much higher than
the statistics say.

Despite all of these treatments, some better, some worse, we are still carrying
our fears, our insecurities, our guilt, our sadness, our loneliness, our knotted
stomachs, and our constant sense that something is terribly wrong, that we are
not living the kind of life that we intuitively know we should.

The Breach: September 11, 2001

If things weren’t bad enough, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
brought with them a new level of fear and uncertainty. In the aftermath of the
attacks, thousands of hurting desperate people sought the services of psychologists,
counselors, priests, social workers, psychiatrists, and yes, drinks, pills and
powders to find a way to overcome the pervasive sense that life no longer made
sense.

Immediately after the attacks on the Trade Center and Pentagon, as people
scrambled to come to terms with our new and more dangerous world, the anthrax-laced
letters that killed five people prompted a new wave of panic that had thousands
of desperate people begging their doctor for a prescription for Ciprofloxacin
(the antibiotic to treat exposure to anthrax). Many people even went as far
as to buy gasmasks to protect themselves from the chemical or biological attack
that might come at the hands of terrorists.

Studies show that the immediate reaction after the terrorist and anthrax
attacks was one of shock prompting anxiety, sleep disturbance, panic attacks,
and, to a lesser degree, depression, and social withdrawal.2 However, after
this shock response it has been found that many people reported increased spirituality,
gratitude, hope, kindness, love, and teamwork. In other words, the vicious attacks
on our security and way of life produced changes in character, a movement toward
being more positive and altruistic. Although it has been shown that these positive
traits tend to disappear over time, they point to our resiliency in the face
of tragedy, our capacity to transform and adapt in a positive way, our innate
sense that living a life marked by a positive outlook and generosity is a way
to overcome the traumas and tragedies that are part and parcel of living in
our uncertain times.

Surely, we were not meant to life in fear, dreading
what may be just around the corner.

We would all agree that our lives on earth are too precious and too short
to be caught up in the throes of distress and feelings of insignificance. Unfortunately,
although we have made great strides in the treatment of emotional and psychological
disorders, too many of us still suffer terribly and this indicates that we must
find another, more effective way to manage the distress and purposelessness
that marks most of our lives.

Jesus as the Model of How Life Should Be Lived

No human in history has lived under more pressure than Jesus of Nazareth.
As the Son of God, He was born in human form with the task of saving humanity
from itself, from its sin-drenched nature, from its obsession with self-gratification.
Granted, as God’s only true son, He had certain advantages over us mere mortals
(being able to walk on water, for one); nonetheless, I believe that we can learn
a lot from the life and conduct of Jesus.

For instance, how did Jesus manage to cope with literally having the weight
of the world and the future of humanity on his shoulders? How did Jesus stay
focused on His divine purpose when, at every turn, people were trying to undermine
His efforts? How did Jesus keep such a positive outlook when all around Him
were suffering and injustice? How did Jesus resist becoming depressed when He
saw that despite His best effort, most people were unmoved by His love and compassion
and refused to change their hearts and minds? How did Jesus keep His anger and
need for vengeance at bay in the face of the abuse and mocking He experienced
at the hands of His contemporaries?

In the pages that follow, I will attempt to answer questions such as these
by describing the four keys that Jesus taught us. It is important to keep in
mind, however, that Jesus does not give us a recipe or formula on how to live
a full and satisfying life; He gives Himself, the model or template of ideal
human living. The culmination of what it means to be a human in God’s image
is in the way Jesus lives: His goodness, His compassion, His sincerity. I have
attempted to distill the essence of Jesus’ human character into four interlocking
keys. My hope is that we can all benefit from learning about the four keys and
from the example that Jesus set for us; an example that, if followed, can move
us away from lives characterized by heaviness, tension, and spiritual distress
toward one where we are realizing our full potential as loving, integrated,
and spiritually mature human beings. My prayer is that this little book helps
you toward realizing your God-given birthright to live a life of integrity,
significance, and peace.